Save the Last Dance for Me

Writers: Aaron, Avery
Date Posted: 22nd January 2018

Characters: A'vel, Brennault
Description: Dancing a little quiet time
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 17 of Turn 9

Brennault

Brennault's heart raced, and he smiled. He was not among those who had
Stood and walked off with new baby dragons, but it was his first
Hatching, and he was elated. He had danced with anyone who would have
him as a partner, but he had his eye on a particular rider. He was
hoping to spend a little quiet time with A'vel, the first rider he had
really gotten to know at the weyr. He was cute, and Brennault had wanted to get to know him a little more personally since the first day
they had met, when Brennault had made friends with Tsogath, A'vel's
green.

When it seemed that the feast was winding down, and the Harpers were
beginning to play more and more slow numbers, Brennault approached
A'vel.

"Hey," he said, breathless from all the dancing and merrymaking. "May
I have this dance?" he asked.

"Hi," A'vel said to Brennault, smiling up at the runner. "I'm going to
warn you the same thing I've told everyone else. I'm not very good at
dancing."

"That's OK," said Brennault. He smiled back. A'vel was giving him
tummyflutters, and they were worth every bit of poor skill at dancing.
"I'll lead," he offered, holding out his hand.

"Thank you," A'vel said, taking Brennault's hand and standing back up.

"I just think so much about what's playing and how I'd be doing it
that I'm not good at paying attention to my feet. I'll try my best not
to do that to you."

"My feet are my livelihood, after all," said Brennault, grinning as he
pulled A'vel toward the space cleared for dancing and then pulling him
close to begin swaying to the slow beat of the music.

"Then I'll do my best not to ruin them," A'vel said. This was a slower
dance, so he had to worry a bit less about treading on the other man's
toes.

"So...what did you think of the Hatching? The shells cracking, the new
lives forming..."

"I thought it would be a little boring from up in the Stands,
actually," Brennault admitted. "But it was anything but. It was
probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I van only imagine how
much better it must be from down there on the Sands."

"It was very dizzying when I was there," A'vel said to the Runner. "I
was so focused on not being overwhelmed by the heat, on watching where
all the little dragonets were going, that I didn't really get a chance
to see what it's like from the outside. I think I understand how they
work better from having spectated."

"Pretty overwhelming from the front lines, yeah?" Brennault asked.
"How did you get Searched, anyway? Did you come here to teach?" He
remembered learning that A'vel was a traveling Harper, but he realized
he had likely been distracted by Tsogath before he had managed to
learn much else about A'vel.

"I was at the Hall when I Searched," A'vel said. "You know, the Hall
was located at the Weyr for a few Turns, and no dragon looked at me
that I knew about. I hoped for the first Turn. What youngster didn't
think about becoming a dragonrider? As much as the Hallmaster grumbled
about all the children being Searched away..."

"But after they ignored me, and the Hall moved back to Emerald Falls,
I was like, 'oh that's a childish dream and Favelance you should get
used to the fact you'll be in your father's shadow forever. So I was
hoping for a traveling assignment, anything to get out from under my
father's thumb." The greenrider chuckled. "Imagine my surprise."

"Favelance – was that your name before?" Brennault wondered. He
supposed he could see how A'vel could come out of that. Given how he
talked of getting out from beneath his father's thumb, Brennault
suspected using that bit of the name might have had more than a little
to do with shedding bits of his father's name from his own. Brennault
had never wanted anything of the sort. He would guess that his
relationship with his own father was rather different from A'vel's
with his.

"Yeah, and my father's name is Faveron. You know, I didn't choose my
own shortening? I had assumed it would be something like F'lance or
F'lan, but she just marched up to me and said A'vel."

"Tsogath knows what she wants, doesn't she?" said Brennault, smiling.
He really had no idea what it might mean for a dragon to decide on a
different name like that, one that was not quite expected. But he
liked it.

Brennault had a feeling that there was more to be said about A'vel's
relationship with his father, but he would let him tell it when he
wanted to and not push.

"This is a beautiful song," he said softly. "Do you know it?"

"I think Tsogath knew I needed my name to not start with F like his
did, even if I didn't know that. That's the lovely thing about being a
dragonrider - your dragon knows the depths of your heart for you and
can keep it safe. Sometimes I feel like my heart is external to my
body now, in the shape of my dragon."

Fanciful and poetic, maybe, but it was how he felt.

Brennault's question made him stop daydreaming. "Oh, yes, I do." It
was a nice slow ballad designed for slow, intimate dances with someone
you liked. His stomach flip-flopped.

Brennault's eyes actually misted a tiny bit at hearing the way A'vel
spoke of Tsogath. It was absolutely beautiful. "How does it feel to
know I've given your heart scritchies?" he said softly, smiling.
Without waiting for an answer to his silly question, he asked one a
little more serious – the one he meant to ask from the start. "Will
you sing this song for me?"

A'vel's first instinct was to say no, and there had recently been
nights when he had absolutely said no to performing - the two
Hatchings after his own Impression, or at Turn's End. After his
parents' sharp rejection, A'vel had decided he was going to throw
himself wholeheartedly into his new identity as a dragonrider.

He'd treated that as throwing away his Hall training - not that he had
quit music, because he still loved to play and sing for Tsogath - but
he wouldn't think of himself as "a Harper" or even as "Harper
trained". He was going to be as if he was just a dragonrider with a
musical hobby. But he hadn't wanted to perform for others because it
would show off his proper training.

But tonight, A'vel had had several glasses of wine in celebration.
He'd danced with a few other people, instead of holding himself apart
and just watching. And Brennault's voice was hopeful and his
appearance sincere...

"All right," A'vel said, half-surprised by the words slipping from his
own lips. And as the music led up to the part where the vocalist came
in, he began to sing the opening.

Brennault danced along to the song, his eyes twinkling as he listened
to A'vel sing beautifully along to the instrumental performance. It
was every bit the treat he had hoped it might be, and he loved every
minute of it.

When the song finally wound down, he pulled A'vel closer for a hug,
slowly swaying until the song stopped.

"Thank you so much. Would you like to go somewhere a little more
private?" he asked, the same hopeful expression in his eyes.

A'vel had enjoyed singing for the runner more than he'd expected. His
voice cracked a bit on a few notes, but it was to be expected when he
hadn't properly warmed up for this. And anyway he only had an audience
of one for it, it wasn't as though he was on stage for the entire Weyr
listening. His eyes were half-closed as he sung, and he started a bit
when the runner spoke.

"Go somewhere for what?" the greenrider asked, though he had a feeling
he knew where this might go.

He'd already given in to one request from Brennault tonight. It was
easier to say yes to this one.

Brennault grinned, wondering if A'vel just wanted to hear him say it. It
was a bit more forward than he expected from the greenrider, though
perhaps less so than he had originally expected from weyrfolk in
general. He had never been able to simply slow dance with a holder boy
while he listened to his beautiful singing voice. No, hold boys took
far longer to woo, and they tended to start off with jokes. "Jokes."
Push the envelope, test the waters, all with plausible deniability.

It was refreshing to spend such a lovely evening with such a lovely
man without having to play games for weeks or months beforehand.

"For this." Brennault reached up to gently lift A'vel's chin and
slowly leaned in for a kiss.

The greenrider had tensed slightly as the runner's hand raised up. He
was still afraid of what being a greenrider meant, still stuck into
his and his father's old ideas of what men should and shouldn't be,
and so being approached so forthrightly by someone made him nervous.
But he didn't flinch back and away, he let their faces approach until
they were so close together A'vel could feel Brennault's breath
brushing against his skin, and suddenly he felt hyper-sensitized and
eager, and he leaned in the rest of the way to close their lips
together.

Brennault gently pulled his fingers through A'vel's hair as he enjoyed the kiss – especially once A'vel relaxed. He was glad he had not misjudged their interaction so far.

Brennault let the kiss last a little while and then slowly pulled back, grinning. "What do you think?"

"I think...that was nice." A'vel said after a moment, his head spinning. "I think we could go somewhere to have a chat and maybe...see where this goes. If you're okay with me being, well..." His hesitancy was obvious in his tone but so was his trust.

Brennault's grin softened to a smile, and he nodded. So, the Weyr had not got into him completely just yet. There was still a little bit of hesitation, of uncertainty around this part of him. Brennault had seen it many times before, of course. An interest, an desire to go further, but still a need to put up boundaries – this far, but no farther. Even the girls had those. And Brennault always respected them.

"I'm OK with you being you," said Brennault. "And I'd love to have a chat and see where this goes." He could hear that tentative trust, and he had no intention of violating it even a little. "I promise, I won't try to go anywhere you're not ready to go."

"I appreciate that," A'vel said. And he did. There were men who expressed interest in others who were very pushy about it, and it was so nice that Brennault was being so respectful.

"In that case, I know somewhere," the greenrider said.

Last updated on the March 2nd 2018

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Save the Last Dance for Me